Initiative Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Position Purpose

The Carnegie Foundation's Innovation and Impact team builds evidence about the most promising learning tools, models, and partnerships for K-12 transformation and postsecondary innovation. Our work explores new measures and tools for assessing, documenting, and credentialing learning, incubates practical alternatives to the Carnegie Unit focused on competency-based learning, and identifies the programs and practices that advance long-term social and economic mobility.

Carnegie is working with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), employers, higher education institutions, and community partners to build a regional system of paid internships that count for high school credit. Supported by a major Los Angeles philanthropy, the initiative connects classroom learning to real work: students earn wages and academic credit for the same hours, schools gain a defensible way to translate on-the-job performance into transcript credit, and employers help design the pipeline they hire from. Carnegie co-develops and oversees the partnerships, governance, and implementation plan that hold the system together, validates the evidence as it comes in, and carries what works to the rest of the country.

LAUSD is the nation's second-largest school district, serving nearly 400,000 students. The district operates the pathways, employers host the students, and contracted partners run day-to-day operations on the ground. Over four years, the initiative will place thousands of young people in paid work across the region and test whether a system built this way keeps running once the philanthropy ends. The ultimate goal is more students graduating with the skills, experience, and professional networks that college and careers require.

The Project Manager holds this work together. Based in Los Angeles, the Project Manager builds the plans, budgets, and communication systems that keep a complex, multi-partner, four-year effort moving, tracks whether the work is delivering what it promised, and gives senior leaders an accurate picture of where things stand. This is a rare chance to help build something in a city that already has the pieces in place, and to leave behind a model other cities can use.

Essential Responsibilities

Project Planning and Execution (40%)

• Work with the project lead and portfolio leads to define the vision, target impacts, scope, and approach for each phase of the initiative.

• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, deliverables, and work plans across all workstreams, and coordinate multiple strands of activity so that each progresses on time and in step with the others.

• Build project templates, dashboards, and reports in Smartsheet, the project management software used at Carnegie, and support the team in using it to maintain, monitor, and report on current plans.

• Establish and run the operating cadence for the initiative, including standing meetings, decision records, and regular reporting to Carnegie leadership and funders.

• Identify risks and emerging problems early, analyze the options, and initiate action to keep milestones and deliverables on schedule.

• Contribute to the development of project KPIs and to the collection, analysis, and reporting of those measures.

• Design and execute convenings for partners and stakeholders, typically 30 to 100 external attendees, in Los Angeles and nationally.

Partner Coordination and Communication (25%)

• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact between Carnegie and its contracted implementation, research, communications, and learning network partners; track deliverables against scopes of work and flag slippage early.

• Coordinate with district staff, employers, higher education partners, and community organizations so that shared timelines and commitments stay visible to everyone who depends on them.

• Support the initiative's advisory board: scheduling, materials, follow-up, and tracking of the commitments members make.

• Develop reports to funders and other external audiences by initiating, monitoring, collecting, copy editing, and compiling report components.

• Manage planning calendars and schedule local and out of town meetings with multiple internal and external contacts.

Budget, Contracts, and Grant Management (20%)

• Develop and manage project budgets tied to grant deliverables, including projections and encumbrances for known and expected expenses.

• Monitor spending against established allocations, identify budget issues before they become problems, and work with the project director to resolve them.

• Prepare contracts with external partners and consultants, and monitor and track contract spend rates, including regranted funds.

• Collaborate with Director of Research Engagement and Director of Strategic Programs & Finance on annual and multiyear project plans, resource forecasts, and budget reports for leadership.

• Maintain accurate accounting records of expenditures and process financial documentation through Carnegie's internal accounting system.

AI-Enabled Practice and Knowledge Capture (15%)

• Use AI tools in daily project work: drafting and editing, synthesizing partner reports and meeting notes, building and querying trackers, and automating routine reporting.

• Exercise judgment about where AI helps and where it does not, verify AI-generated content before it reaches partners or funders, and follow Carnegie's data and privacy practices.

• Document what the team learns about running an initiative of this kind and develop artifacts that make those insights usable by others.

• Improve project management processes, standards, and tools, and share what works with other Carnegie teams.

Non-Essential Responsibilities

• Provide logistical and technical support for in person and virtual meetings and conferences, serving as a link between Carnegie operations, project staff, and external partners.

• Represent the initiative at local convenings and site visits when senior staff are unavailable.

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and direct project management experience. PMP or comparable certification(s) preferred.

• 5+years of experience managing projects or programs, including at least one multiyear effort involving external partners.

• 5+years of experience with budget development, maintenance, and management, and with using budget information to inform programmatic decisions.

• Direct experience in K-12 education and in workforce development or work-based learning. Candidates who have worked across both fields preferred.

• Working knowledge of Los Angeles: its school system, employer base, civic institutions, or workforce landscape.

• Demonstrated use of AI tools in professional work, with the judgment to know when to rely on them and when not to.

• Experience developing effective structures for collaboration, including shared goals, clear roles, and decision-making processes.

• Experience facilitating meetings with stakeholders who bring different interests and incentives to the table.

• Experience using project management methodologies and software.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to create and improve processes, and to bring colleagues along in using them.

• Skilled communicator with executives, staff, and external partners at any level.

• Ability to manage multiple partnerships and complex projects at the same time.

• Highly organized, resourceful, and creative in solving problems.

• Ability to build and maintain high trust, mutually accountable relationships across teams and organizations.

• Ability to navigate complex, multi-sector environments in which Carnegie does not control every partner or every decision.

• Attention to detail, ability to set, meet, and enforce deadlines, and ability to delegate appropriately.

• Sound judgment about what to elevate and what to resolve independently.

• Ability to communicate effectively in writing, one-on-one, and in groups, with internal and external audiences at all levels.

Required Technical Skills

• Intermediate to advanced proficiency using project management software. Smartsheet experience preferred.

• Intermediate proficiency using Excel, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace.

• Practical fluency with AI tools for writing, synthesis, and analysis, and the ability to learn new tools quickly.

Position Terms and Physical Requirements

• This position is based in Los Angeles, California, and requires regular in person presence at school sites, employer sites, and partner meetings across Los Angeles County.

• This is a limited-term position tied to the scope, timeline, and funding of the initiative. Employment is contingent on continued funding.

• Position may require travel outside the region.

• This position will require spending time frequently keyboarding, looking at a computer screen, and participating in virtual meetings.

Compensation

• The salary range for this position is $112,000 to $135,000 annually.

• Placement within the range depends on relevant experience, qualifications, and internal equity across comparable roles at Carnegie.

• This position is benefits eligible.